Clark University junior Danielle Osterman, of Glastonbury, spends summer in Cambodia

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Clark University junior Danielle Osterman visits the Angkor Wat, the world's largest Hindu temple complex , in Cambodia.

WORCESTER, MA (08/10/2012)(readMedia)-- Clark University junior Danielle K. Osterman, of Glastonbury, Conn., recently completed the Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE) summer Cambodian Studies study abroad program in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, Cambodia with funding she received from the University's Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program.

Osterman took two classes: Cambodian history and culture and Nation building after the Khmer Rouge. She made site visits to the Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal, the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and the Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison. She also volunteered at the Documentation Center of Cambodia, and helped edit survivor testimonies.

"I applied for the program in Cambodia because of my interest in genocide and post-conflict studies," said Osterman. "This program allowed me to experience, first-hand, how a country has dealt with its horrific past and subsequently moved beyond it."

At the end of the program, Osterman spent a day at the Khmer Rouge War Crimes Tribunal. The day she was there, they heard expert testimony of David Chandler.

"It was definitely an interesting experience to be in the same room as Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan," she said.

Ken MacLean, assistant professor of International Development and Social Change (IDSC), supported Osterman's application for funding for her internship.

"Danielle is a bright, extremely responsible, and friendly young woman. She is a hard worker and adept at interacting with people from diverse backgrounds," wrote professor MacLean. "The leadership role she plays in organizations both on- and off-campus attests to her people skills."

On campus, Osterman is an active member in several important student groups, STAND and ONE Campus Challenge. She is on the executive board of the Clark Social Entrepreneurship Club and works as a Clark Safety Escort. She has also volunteered with African Community Education and helped develop online resources for mentors working with refugee children from different countries.

Osterman is a member of the Class of 2014 at Clark; she majors in international development and social change. Osterman is a 2010 graduate of Glastonbury High School.

The Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program has been offering summer internship stipends every other year since 1999. Osterman received funding from the Ina R. and Haskell R. Gordon Fund. Two other Clark undergraduates also received stipends from the Program this summer.

"Each of the students clearly benefits from her summer internship or study opportunity. The impact of their experiences, however, extends beyond these three students to the broader Clark community," said Shelly Tenenbaum, chair of the Department of Sociology, and director, Holocaust and Genocide Studies Undergraduate Program. "The classroom is transformed when these students return to campus and share their new insights with their peers and professors."

Founded in 1887 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Clark University is a small, liberal arts-based research university addressing social and human imperatives on a global scale. Nationally renowned as a college that changes lives, Clark is emerging as a transformative force in higher education today. LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice) is Clark's pioneering model of education that combines a robust liberal arts curriculum with life-changing world and workplace experiences. Clark's faculty and students work across boundaries to develop solutions to contemporary challenges in the areas of psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. The Clark educational experience embodies the University's motto: Challenge convention. Change our world.